Mark James

LOOOOOOOVE the promo video!!! HAHA, so cool

Liking the XTR brakes!! wahoo

Beautiful minimalist looking bike!! . Wonder if Nino and Kate will be riding it this weekend at Leogang??

I reluctantly went for a Retul bike fit (paid R750), and the small changes and tweaks definitely made a difference to some of the pain I had in my arms/hands. Would definitely suggest it!

This is really important... My wife is 1.8m, and has no problem riding "mens" bikes - 54/56 on a road bike or Large in a MTB. A smaller framed woman (1.6-1.65m, or with shorter legs, would be better suited at looking at a frame with woman specific geometry) When considering buying a bike, there is far more choice and better pricing when looking at "mens" bikes, than when only limiting your options to woman's brands/models. My 5 cents ????

Well done bud, you should be proud of yourself! Excellent job and keep it up!

Riding my bike in the Table mountain area, even on a busy Sunday morning (like yesterday), is still far more enjoyable and less stressful than riding my car around CPT on Sunday mornings... No matter how many riders are on the mountain And playing dodge-bike with other riders makes me a better and more skilled MTB'er

Really sad to read, the guy is a machine and I was really looking forward to seeing him in the Olympics after watching him destroy the course and opposition in Nove Mesto. Hopefully 8 weeks is enough for him to recover ????

At over R100k I would be keeping both fingers crossed that it comes in under 11kg, but I have a feeling it might be around 11kg, or just over for the "entry level" bike... I found this below online, so not cheap at R100k+ for a bike with GX components... and R200k+ for the top of the range. "The range starts with the Blur C S at £5,099 / $5,199. It uses Select+ suspension, a SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain and ‘C’ level carbon. Via other builds with Shimano’s XT groupset, SRAM’s X01 drivetrains and plus Reserve wheel options, the Blur XC range tops out with the Blur CC XX1 AXS RSV at £9,899 / $11,299. Blur TR peaks with the CC XX1 AXS TR RSV model at £10,099 / $11,599"

Really nice looking bike!! Lots of blah blah about frame weight, but no mention of the total bike weight for the XC or TR versions... Would be interesting to know what the total bike weight is for the 2 versions of the bike to compare

I found the Outsurance premiums on bikes REALLY expensive, and considerably more than what I am paying for my car insurance... Will definitely check out Cyclesure, as well as JaSure - seeing everytime I go onto bikehub I see their advertising

I have 2 bikes that I recently purchased, and want to insure. I contacted Outsurance yesterday, and for full comprehensive insurance they quoted the following, which I thought was fairly expensive.. MTB 1, value R70k - R950/month MTB 2, value R50k - R750/month I have seen on bikehub an advert for JaSure, which is underwritten by Santam, and seems a lot more reasonable. If I understood correctly, you only activate JaSure for the amount of days you use your bike in a month. Obviously not sure if one would be covered for theft or other loss on days the insurance isn't activated (or it would be covered under general household probably). https://quotes.jasure.com/?type_id=ab4cf5ec-107d-44ac-9fc3-08a0f0cb66cc&replacement_value=70000 Curious as to what insurance other bike-hubbers use to insure their bikes, and what you guys could recommend as a more cost effective insurance that would cover me in the following scenarios: > Damaging the bike during a ride > Bike getting stolen while riding (bike-jacking) > Damaged while being transported on the bike rack Suggestions and thoughts appreciated

For this coming weekend I will only use the Health app to track my workout? Then pull that into Strava? >>> Yes. Use the health app to record your cycle, and then afterwards go to the Strava app and "sync" your apple workout. I will be doing the same this weekend Do I have to disable the permissions between Strava and Health? >>> Yes (I think) delink/disable permissions, and then relink them after

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THIS ABOVE This is what I was told too by discovery.... You need to record your cycling activity using the Apple Watch workout app, and start the "outdoor cycle" just prior to your ride (exactly like you would have done with the Strava app on your apple watch - start "outdoor ride" prior to riding... This is the reply below I received from Discovery / Vitality when enquiring about the issue of my Strava workout not being pulled through to the Vitality app. Moral of story: Use the Apple workout app, then upload to Strava (and they'll also be registered for Vitality) Hi Mark Hope you had a lekker weekend. Please see below from Vitality, I don’t use Strava so this is news to me too. Essentially, you need to delink your apple watch from Strava as workouts (specifically the Heart rate data) from Strava aren’t verified and consequently Vitality can’t allocate you points for these workouts. Let me know if this isn’t clear. Thanks, Tim Subject: RE: Mark Strava | Vitality - REF: Good day Timothy Kindly be advised heart rate workout done through Strava are not eligible for Vitality points as the activity pulls through and unverified. Strava only shares speed data with Vitality if the member has the Strava app linked to Vitality on the app and the maximum points that can be earned for the speed data is 100 points. The member will need to delink his Apple Watch from Strava for him to earn workout points done with his Apple Watch device.

The main road is closed (Tafelberg Road), but all the other arterial routes/roads or access points are open, and there are no signs/notifications to the contrary... But I hear what you say, and have avoided the areas that are closed off. I think prudence and common sense should be used, but there is no imminent danger riding on the jeep tracks (or jogging, or walking your dog...)

Some photos

I rode to the blockhouse last week Tuesday (but could not access it from Tafelberg Road, so had to access it from Disa Park / Quarry. The parks board had a tape across Tafelberg Road about 2-3km after the cable car station). Same thing again this last Tuesday (2 days ago). They also had closed the access from Deer Park, and had 2 people there, as well as 2 people on Tafelberg Road. So basically, you can access the trails going to the blockhouse and below table mountain, but only if you ride from a minor access point (Disa Park, quarry, trail starting at first corner on Tafelberg Road). The MTB trails, both single track and jeep tracks are absolutely fine, although much of the fauna around them is burnt... The consistency of the trails/topsoil is also perfect. I think the obvious concern is people (hikers) going off-trail where the soil is loose.

I recently went to a LBS to buy some new tyres, and told the owner I had recently started cycling again after not riding for 20+ years, and griped about how expensive bikes were, he laughed and replied, "buying a bike is the cheap part, it is servicing and maintaining the bike that is the expensive part"... As someone who is not very "technically minded" (I would love to be), I recently did a bike maintenance 101 course, which has helped hugely, but most of the basic things spoken about in the thread I'm too scared to attempt on my own (change bearings, fit new cables, etc...). So for someone like me with very basic technical skills, I either need to learn more (not many bike "201", "301" courses around), or trust my LBS.... Fortunately after experiencing a few bull**** stories from bike stores about things that MUST be replaced on my bike, I have found a bikeshop that I can trust, and that gives me peace of mind... I hope in time that I am able to learn more, and do more on my own bike

The routes were really well indicated, and there were quite a few marshals on the course at intersections, so difficult to know if their "going the wrong way" was intentional, or a harmless mistake... Certainly the riders I saw in the 40km ride were intentionally "taking shortcuts" across the hairpins, which is kind of sad that people would do that for a 40km fun ride...

Never ridden in Tokai or Meerendal, but have looked at the trails on Trailforks, so will definitely make a plan to ride there next weekend

I did the 40km ride yesterday, my first race in 25 years! The last few 100m's of climbing was tough, but overall it was a REALLY enjoyable day out, and super well organised and signposted. Event was also well priced to enter, and super stoked that I did it BTW: I did notice some riders taking shortcuts in my own ride, and the organisers said afterwards that a few of the elite riders had been DQ'ed as a result of "taking shortcuts".

Possibly a stupid question, but are there MTB areas / trail parks around the Western Cape that are KNOWN SAFE AREAS, where there haven't been reported incidents, and that you guys can suggest for safe(er) riding? I have only recently started riding again, and normally ride on my own around Table Mountain / Lions Head, and sometimes in Bottelary conservancy from Hazendal. Would be good to maybe even start a thread of "known safe areas" for newbie MTB riders

Hi Andrew I spoke to the organisers on Monday/Tuesday, and although they have said they would prefer for riders to collect their numbers on Thur/Fri (Covid protocol), they will put all uncollected numbers on a table at the start area, and you'll be able to collect them there. I plan on getting there 1 hour before my start to make sure I have enough time to find the table and number...

Totes agree with this!! I fortunately have an Apple Watch, which measures my heart rate during my ride. I start the Strava "outdoor ride" when I start my ride, and carry my phone in my saddle bag / backpack. From this data I have everything I need to know where I am in my training/fitness/intensity Although I'd love to own a power meter, or Garmin front mount computer thingie, I cannot (at my level) justify the expense, and find that my apple watch gives me as much information and data that I need... And as an added bonus, it also tells the time Maybe a better option is a cheaper end Fitbit, or similar wearable watch that measures your heart rate, and then as others have suggested, use your phone to track your ride/speed, etc... You'll also have the added bonus that you don't have too much clutter or crap, and just a single wearable watch...